


We Happy Few

by clarias



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Gen, OHANA MEANS FAMILY, and family means no one gets left behind on a class M planet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2019-03-01 17:22:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13299606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clarias/pseuds/clarias
Summary: Tilly wishes she had a sister. Michael wishes she talked to her brother.





	We Happy Few

“I always wished I’d had a sister,” Tilly says, watching the Teuan delegation return to their shuttle with a sigh. They are clustered together in their sibling groups as they have been for the entirety of their stay on the  _ Discovery _ . Their culture values large families and bonds between siblings above any other. Michael heard Stamets call their behaviour ‘creepy’. 

“It would have been like growing up with a built in best friend,” Tilly continues as they head toward the mess. “She could’ve taught me to do my hair, or I’d have taught her if I was older, I suppose. We’d argue and steal each other’s clothes. It would be great.”

“Having a sibling wouldn’t necessarily have been so idyllic,” Michael points out, although she privately doesn’t think fighting and thievery sounds that pleasant. She orders her usual and waits for Tilly to get her lunch. “And why wish for something so outside your control?”

“You sound just like my parents!” Tilly protests. “When I was five I asked for a sister for Hanukkah and they gave me this boring lecture. And a puppy. I did love the puppy, though.” She pokes as her hummus for a minute, no doubt reminiscing on her dog, before her eyes light up. “Michael, do you have any siblings? We’ve never talked about it.”

Michael hesitates. It’s a question she’s been asked before in Starfleet and she always struggles to put her answer in human terms. For a moment she imagines Sybock stealing her robes and almost laughs at the image.

“You’re right, we’ve never talked about it.”

Tilly gives her the frown, the special one for when she knows Michael is being deliberately awkward. Her face scrunches up and she looks very, very disappointed. Michael doesn’t like that look, and she has been trying to be more open. Bonding over family is normal.

“I have two brothers,” she says, hoping it will be enough.

“Wow!” Tilly says. “That must have been so annoying growing up. Wait, are they, you know…” she trails off, obviously unsure how to phrase the question.

“They’re both Vulcan,” Michael answers. 

Tilly remains hesitant, even her dinner forgotten. No doubt she’s imagining how her fantasies of a big family would be altered if her siblings were aliens. Michael has avoided talking extensively about her upbringing – has avoided most of her biography in all honesty – but she knows that people form impressions. Between the popular perception of Vulcan society and her own shortcomings, she’s sure the cadet is inventing a grim picture. Her feelings about her childhood are far from rosy but she feels a bizarrely surge of protectiveness for her brothers.

“So do you keep in touch?” Tilly asks.

“Not really, no.”

Spock was enmeshed in his own studies when she’d joined Starfleet and at first she’d been so desperate to keep up her role as a Vulcan daughter she hadn’t wanted to show that she missed her family. Then, she hadn’t known where to begin, and then – well. She hadn’t wanted her first communiqué in years to be from a prison ship. Her reputation could only harm his career. 

Tilly looked disappointed and embarrassed. Michael’s instinct was to bristle at the reaction but she reminded herself that Tilly was her friend and that if she was embarrassed, it was likely because she regretted bringing up a sore subject. As unthinkable as it was, the cadet never had an agenda when she spoke. 

“Amanda tells me that Spock, my younger brother, is doing well, however.”

“How old is he?” Tilly asks, latching onto the olive branch. Michael feels a swell of satisfaction. 

“He is 27, and is already the science officer on board the  _ Enterprise _ . He is exceptionally intelligent and insightful.” She let a little of the pride the thought elicited show in her voice. It was illogical – Spock’s talents owed little to her – but she felt it all the same.

“I guess it runs in the family,” Tilly says with one of her sheepish smiles. 

Michael opens her mouth to points out the flaw in that statement but she cuts herself off. “Indeed,” she says instead.

They eat together quietly for a minute but Michael can’t shake the feeling that the conversation is not quite finished. The Teuans, and the value they placed on their sibling bonds, tug at her consciousness.

“Not every society believes that family is contingent on a genetic relationship,” she says.

Tilly looks up at her in surprise, no doubt waiting for the rest of her thoughts. She frowns and tries to gather her argument. It’s frustrating, she hadn’t meant to blurt that statement out like that. It’s her mental disorganisation she blames for the quote which jumps to the front of her mind.

“‘This is my family. I found it all on my own. It’s little and broken, but still good.’”

She expects Tilly to laugh at her – she can’t remember the source of the line but she knows it was from a film aimed squarely at children – but instead her eyes well up.

“That’s always been one of my favourites,” she says, her voice breaking a little. “I think of you like family, too.”

Michael hopes Tilly is able to see past the awkward, hard set of her mouth. The rawness of the sentiment makes her deeply uncomfortable and some embedded part of her wants to hide with shame. Another part, one she has felt growing lately, is warmed by it. Even the captain had never been so expressive with her, knowing how it made her react. She feels a pang, thinking of how much she left unsaid.

Evidently, Tilly knows her well enough to let it lie but her good mood carries through the entirety of their shift. She even hugs Stamets, who pushes her off with a little less grumbling than usual. 

“I’m just so glad to have you all as my Starfleet family,” she says. “You’re like our science dad.”

Stamets glares. “There’s no way I’m old enough to be your dad, any of you, and if I was I wouldn’t want such delinquent children.”

Michael lets herself laugh as Tilly tries to convince him that she meant it kindly. As much as she had intended to view her time onboard the  _ Discovery _ as temporary, she has become attached. She might still be the odd one out in this family, but she is still part of it. Her heart aches. 

“Would you mind if I had the room for an hour this evening?” she asks as she and Tilly finish at their stations. “I want to place a videocall. To my brother.”

“Absolutely!” Tilly agrees. “I’ll take extra long over dinner. And go to the rec room. And the gym, then I’ll take a really long shower.”

“An hour will be fine.”

She wonders what Spock will look like now – he’ll be grown up. Will he even care to speak to his mutineer, human sister?

“And I’ll be around after, if you want to talk or anything,” Tilly adds on.

That warmth is back. “Thank you Tilly. For… everything.”

The smile Tilly gives her banishes the last of her anxiety. Her family is good. 

**Author's Note:**

> I tried so hard to get the timelines/ages straight but it's so hard you guys. Apologies if I made a mistake.
> 
> In grand Star Trek tradition, I included an unattributed quote. The film Michael is thinking of is _Lilo and Stitch_ of course. 
> 
> The title comes from the famous lines in _Henry V_ , which Michael probably wishes she'd remembered instead:
> 
>  
> 
> _We few, we happy few, we band of brothers._


End file.
